2011 Team Preview #12: Trinity (TX)

Bobby Cocanougher and Cory Kowal

Coach: Russell McMindes, 2nd Season
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Conference: SCAC
2008 Ranking: 11
2009 Ranking: 15
2010 Ranking: 10
2011 Projected: 4

I've taken a little bit of heat for putting Trinity at #4 in my preseason rankings. I really like this team and I think they have national championship potential. There's one big reason for that and it's their doubles. Against just about anyone in the country except Amherst, the Tigers will be the favorite on paper at all 3 doubles spots. They've got the clear best doubles team in the country in Cocanougher/Kowal and they have probably the best #2 doubles team in the country in Delafuente/Frey. I don't know who it will be yet, but they will also have an excellent #3 doubles team. That being said, being the favorite and actually sweeping doubles are 2 very different propositions. This brings me to the problem with Trinity's team this year. If they don't get ahead in doubles by at least a 2-1 score, they are in very big trouble against any team in the top 10. They shouldn't put extra pressure on themselves, but doubles is more important for them versus any other team in the country because I don't think the singles talent is there. Their NCAA quarterfinal against CMS is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. They were up 2-1 after dubs and ended up losing 5-2. They need to figure out some way to avoid this. The reason I've moved them up so much is because they have their entire team back plus 2 new freshmen who are potential starters. This will add much needed depth to their singles lineup and allow them to have 8 potential starters in singles. I really like their on-court attitude and intensity, but that energy helps more in doubles than singles. They really need to play as a team and somehow find those 2 or 3 wins in singles. If this happens, big things will follow. I expect a lot out of the Tigers, but I don't expect them to start well. I'm interested to see what they do with their lineup against Cruz at Indoors. I'f I'm McMindes, I take advantage of Cocanougher's fall win and use him as the sacrificial lamb against a pretty much untouchable Pybas. I let Frey take his chances against Koenig at 2. I'm predicting an easy win for Cruz against Trinity in the first round of Indoors, but things will get better from there. They play one of the most difficult schedules in the country and they will be tested all season long. They should have a shot at Emory at the Stag-Hen, they play Amherst out in California, and then they host their quad with Cruz, CMS and Wash U. By the time the quad rolls around, I expect them to be in top form and I think they should go at least 2-1 if not 3-0. They shouldn't get overconfident in the conference final against a tricky DePauw team. This team is a lock for the top 10, they should be in the top 8 and they have Final 4 potential. We know their doubles is great, but this team only goes as far as their singles takes them.

2011 Team Preview #11: Christopher Newport

Gianandrea Heyer

Coach: Rush Cole, 15th Season
Location: Newport News, Virginia
Conference: USA South
2008 Ranking: 24
2009 Ranking: NR
2010 Ranking: 30
2011 Projected: 21

They aren't at the same level, but the make-up of this team is eerily similar to Emory. They've got 2 great players supporting them, a solid #3 and then serviceable players lower in the lineup. In fact, if you take away the Eagles top 2, Newport has arguably the best 2 players in the region in Shulman and Heyer. Newport hasn't been making much noise the past couple years since starting undefeated in 2008 and making their way into the top 20 in the country with some very solid wins. I think this year's team has that sort of potential but they need to focus on one thing and one thing only. That's winning the conference. It will be a very tall task. If you look at last year's USA South final, that's the Newport-NC Wesleyan matchup in a nutshell. Newport was able to take 2 of 3 doubles and they were competitive at the top 2 spots, but NCW absolutely crushed them at 3 through 6, losing something like 8 total games at those 4 spots. I think there are 5 wins for Newport against NCW this year so I'm not going to count them out, but they will need to have their absolute best day to win this conference. The unfortunate thing for Newport is that this is really their only ticket to the tournament. I can see this team being as high as 18 or 19 in the country this year, but that still won't get them close to Pool C. Coach Cole is one of of the most underrated in the country and Newport's great staff has to have some lineup ideas up their sleeve to give them the best chance against NC Wesleyan. Looking at Newport's make-up again, Shulman and Heyer are probably the most underrated 1-2 punch in the country and will carry this team into the top 25 this year. After them, sophomore Garrett Widing will hopefully be healthy this spring and pick up where he left off from a promising freshman campaign. The real key will be seniors Lorenzo Sison and Dusty Nelson, both of whom really need to step up when Newport takes on ranked teams. The Captains need wins from players other than their top 2, and it's as simple as that. Looking at their schedule, they aren't tested all that much, but matches to watch are W&L, Mary Wash and of course the regular season contest with NCW. Their season will come down to the conference final and they know it. They just have to be ready to play.

2011 Team Preview #10: Kenyon

Jeremy Polster

Coach: Scott Thielke, 15th Season
Location: Gambier, Ohio
Conference: NCAC
2008 Ranking: 7
2009 Ranking: 7
2010 Ranking: 12
2011 Projected: 15

Kenyon has always been a good team. In the early and middle part of the decade, they consistently won their conference and qualified for the NCAA tournament. The past 3 years, the Lords became an elite team. Even they will admit much of this was due to Mike Greenberg's leadership ability on and off the court. That era is now over, and it remains to be seen whether Kenyon will go back to being a good team, or remain as an elite team. This elite team could beat any team on any day, and we saw that at 2009 Indoors when they took down the eventual national champions. I don't see that potential in this year's team. I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that Kenyon is probably the most inexperienced team of anyone expected to be in the top 15 this year. They still have veteran Jeremy Polster, who should be an NCAA singles qualifier this year, and will try to fill the leadership role left by Kenyon's 4 graduates. Polster is the key player, likely to be in the 1 singles and 1 doubles spots for the majority of the season. He is the only player on this team who has really played in a big match. The other potential weapon for Kenyon is sophomore Paul Burgin, who's biggest match was probably the Indoors Semi against Cruz last year. Burgin has the potential to be a very good #2, and he will need to provide a lot of wins for Kenyon this year. Two other top players for Kenyon are transfer CJ Williams and sophomore Kevin Ye. Both should be strong in the middle of the lineup. This is probably as close as Denison has been to Kenyon since 2007, but I still don't think they are good enough to topple the Lords. This is Kenyon's last year enjoying fairly easy conference titles as DePauw joins the NCAC in 2012. I expect Kenyon to win the conference comfortably this year and they most likely will make it to the Sweet 16. If Coach Thielke can take this team further than that and get them in the top 10, he deserves Coach of the Year. They aren't as deep as their competition and based upon historical results, they aren't as strong at the top either. One thing to mention is Kenyon just hired an outstanding assistant coach in Ross Wilson who should really help this team. Kenyon plays a very tough schedule this year and notable matches include Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, Whitman in the Stag-Hen 1st round, and the GLCA tournament with DePauw and Carnegie Mellon. Kenyon should be a very good team this year, especially when considering their inexperience. I think they have to wait a couple years to get back to "elite" status.

2011 Team Preview #9: MIT

Ken Van Tilburg

Coach: Dave Hagymas, 6th Season
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Conference: NEWMAC
2008 Ranking: NR
2009 Ranking: 30
2010 Ranking: 24
2011 Projected: 24

Something that often gets overlooked in D3 is how a coach can turn around a program by simply putting some effort into recruiting. If you want to talk about coaching pedigrees, MIT's Dave Hagymas may be #1 in D3. Before arriving in Cambridge, Hagymas was a long time assistant at Duke, winning a National Assistant Coach of the Year title. He has made this program from nothing into something, and he's the reason for their Sweet 16 performance last season. He is able to steal recruits from other technical schools such as Carnegie Mellon and Johns Hopkins, but this couldn't be done without recruiting. MIT is a very prestigious school to go to, so it really shouldn't be that hard to get smart kids to come there. The Engineers don't have to worry about making the NCAA tournament as they typically qualify through Pool B, so they can focus on development throughout the season and play without pressure. They had a good NCAA tournament win last year before giving Middlebury a tough time in singles, so that has to be a confidence boost entering this season. While I don't think team has top 20 potential quite yet, they are certainly a team to watch over the next few years. They've got a lot of talent on the team, but where they will probably fall short is development due to the difficult academics. If they can continue to rise in the rankings and recruit well, this could be a top 20 team by the end of 2012. Looking at their schedule, they play most of the powerhouses in New England, but the matches I'd pay particular attention to are Bates and Brandeis. These are teams that should be ranked close to the Engineers, and if MIT can win both of these and find their way to a second consecutive Sweet 16, that's a massive step in the right direction for this program. The talent is clearly there, and Coach Hagymas' tennis prowess combined with a lot of hard work has made MIT into a respectable tennis program.

2011 Team Preview #8: Chicago

Will Zhang

Coach: Marty Perry, 8th Season
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Conference: UAA
2008 Ranking: 25
2009 Ranking: 17
2010 Ranking: 21
2011 Projected: 13

Chicago is either great or terrible. They can come within points of beating Wash U and lose to Kalamazoo in the same season. They were legitimate NCAA contenders the past 3 years if you just look at their talent. They missed the tournament 3 times and in fact didn't really come close to making it any of the years. They had a certain swagger to them and their obnoxious on-court mannerisms made them very unpopular with other teams. I think they need to rethink how they carry themselves because they aren't good enough to act like jerks on the court. If they don't make the tournament this year, something is seriously wrong and changes need to be made. Chicago brought in one of the best recruiting classes in D3 and I expect them to have 3 freshmen starting this year coupled with All-American Will Zhang, Troy Brinker and Jan Stefanski. If you see Brinker at 4 or 5 in the lineup, he could be one of the best in the country at his position. Something always seems to go wrong for the Maroons. Either their doubles is weak, or the top of the lineup isn't showing up or the bottom of the lineup isn't showing up. This year, there should be no excuses. This team is loaded with talent and they should be top 10 if they play to their potential. Their middle of the lineup should be as strong as anyone in the country and I would also expect them to have very strong teams at #2 and #3 doubles. Chicago seems to always mess up their NCAA chances with a bad loss sometime during the season. This year, I think there are 2 must wins on their schedule. The first is Kenyon, which was one of my matches to watch, and also a match against DePauw. The Tigers got the better of Chicago in '08 and '09 and it was probably the loss to DePauw in '09 that kept Chicago out of the tournament. The Maroons will have chances at Emory and Wash U during their season as well as at UAAs and these are definitely potential upsets. Chicago is good enough to play with anyone this season, they just need to stay modest and focus on the task at hand.

2011 Team Preview #7: Mary Washington

Sam Wichlin

Coach: Todd Helbling, 12th Season
Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia
Conference: Capital
2008 Ranking: 9
2009 Ranking: 18
2010 Ranking: 23
2011 Projected: 19

Last year, with a finish of 23rd in the country, the Eagles concluded their worst season in Coach Helbling's 11 seasons. The team was young and not that strong, but a drop of 14 spots in 2 years is significant, and should be a red flag for any program. The Eagles have the luxury of not having to worry about making the NCAA tournament this year with conference rival Salisbury being very weak. The Eagles still play a daunting schedule, beginning with Indoors where they will be the underdog in 3 consecutive matches, no matter who the opponents are. Mary Wash needs to go back to the drawing board and regroup a little bit. They have a promising sophomore in Sam Wichlin who was one of my players to watch, and they have a 3-time NCAA doubles qualifier in Kaz Murata who definitely could make it 4 in a row this year. Mary Wash is fairly even throughout the lineup, and this was a problem for them last year. They did a lot of lineup switching, but during all of it no one was really consistent. They had 2 bright spots all last season, and that was a win against Redlands and then a conference title. They lost to a clearly inferior team in NCAAs and also had bad losses against W&L and Newport. Something has gone wrong the past 2 years, but I can't put my finger on it. Talent and depth wise, they should be a fixture in the top 20. They get adequate recruits, but the fantastic development that existed in the middle of the decade isn't there anymore. Helbling is one of the top coaches in D3 and I believe this is a crucial year for Mary Wash tennis. If they can start strong and pull an upset at Indoors, it could lead to great things later in the season. As for goals, I think they should focus on the top 15 and winning their first NCAA match, since that is something they've failed to do in the last 2 years. Their players need to develop throughout the season and they need to believe they are still one of the top teams in the country.

2011 Team Preview #6: UT-Tyler

2010 Regional Finalists

Coach: Chris Bizot, 7th Season
Location: Tyler, Texas
Conference: American Southwest
2008 Ranking: 21
2009 Ranking: 20
2010 Ranking: 22
2011 Projected: 28

I think this is one of the youngest and most unpredictable teams in the country. The Patriots are always lurking and have put together 3 consecutive very solid seasons in which they finished top 25 and won a conference title. Coach Bizot has done a great job with the talent he has available and has turned this from an average no-name team in Texas to a national power who can win NCAA tournament matches. The one thing that has been a staple for the Patriots over the past few seasons are seasons filled with ups and downs. They've often struggled with injuries, and this kept their strong teams out of the top 10. The 2009 squad peaked at #13 and they were definitely better than their #20 year-end ranking. The 2011 team is very young and will most likely start no seniors. The Pats didn't have a very good season last year, but came on strong in the NCAA tournament and upset Mary Washington with a good singles performance. The previous two NCAA appearances for Tyler were below average at best. They finally showed up in the post-season and it was a good experience for their young guys to get a big win in a pressure situation. They have two strong players in Josh Chavez and Adam Chirhart who should be at the top of their lineup this year. There are two wildcards on Tyler's 2011 roster though, and they are two freshmen from Brazil. Although neither had a great Fall ITA, if they can step in and be consistent winners in the bottom of the lineup, Tyler could be a top 25 team. I expect them to be ranked start to finish, but I don't think breaking the top 20 is realistic. When looking at their schedule, there are only 3 matches that I really have my eye on. The first is an early season contest against a deceptively good Rhodes team, and then they have matches in California against Whitman and Pomona-Pitzer. If they can manage to win one of the two California matches, that's a good accomplishment for these guys. This is a semi-rebuilding year for Tyler, but I like this program a lot.

2011 Team Preview #5: Emory

Dillon Pottish

Coach: John Browning, 12th Season
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Conference: UAA
2008 Ranking: 2
2009 Ranking: 3
2010 Ranking: 4
2011 Projected: 3

In any sport, when a team suffers a tough loss to end their season, there's always a question about how they will respond the following season. I have no doubt that the Emory Eagles will be competing for another national title this season. Last year's loss to Amherst was a wake up call, a message that they can't dominate like they used to and more hard work needs to be put in versus 5 years ago. Fitness was a big reason Emory didn't win that match, so you know what the focus will be this year. So the streak of 8 consecutive Final Fours is over, but the Eagles still maintain the streak of 11 consecutive seasons finishing inside the top 5. Make that 12 for 2011. This 2011 Emory team is very interesting and has the best 2 players in the country heading into the season. They lost two key seniors, but brought in a class of solid recruits and have probably 4 or 5 guys on their bench who can start on other top 10 teams. Depth really isn't an issue for this team, but the reality is that their bottom of the lineup is a bit overmatched against CMS and Amherst. We saw this last year in the NCAA quarterfinal. If their top 2 fall, they aren't going to win. The reason I'm not sold on this year's Emory team is doubles. They lost 4 of 6 doubles starters from last year's team and to me their doubles is a glaring weakness. Look at the last 4 matches Emory has lost in D3 play. Amherst last year as everyone knows, Wash U 2010 Indoors Semi, Santa Cruz 2009 NCAA Semi, Wash U 2009 UAA Final. They were swept in doubles in those last 3 matches. If Emory can get a lead going into singles, they are incredibly tough to beat. One of the reasons they are the team "everyone loves to hate" is because of the arrogant attitude they carry into matches. The truth is that attitude isn't getting it done for them, because they can get in a huge hole with the 9-point system. If they can rethink how they approach doubles, it could make a huge difference. They've got 3 great players and solid 4 through 6 guys. That's enough to win a national title. They are a heavy favorite to win Indoors and will be tested at the Stag-Hen with CMS and Trinity (TX) competing. I'm interested to see how this team bounces back after last year's loss, which I'm sure didn't sit well with Coach Browning.

2011 Team Preview #4: Washington & Lee

Jeremy Becht

Coach: David Detwiler, 11th Season
Location: Lexington, Virginia
Conference: Old Dominion
2008 Ranking: 18
2009 Ranking: 29
2010 Ranking: 26
2011 Projected: 27

The Generals have quietly fallen during the past couple years. I know there's not much pressure on tennis coaches from athletic departments, but Detwiler needs to get his guys back into the top 20 quickly. I really don't have many nice things to say about this program right now. They aren't a very strong team, their players and coaches get in fights with other teams, and they have been surrounded by accusations of stacking for the past couple years. The good news for the Generals is that they took back the conference last year after losing to Hampden-Sydney in 2009. Prior to 2009, W&L had won 13 consecutive conference titles, so that now stands at 14 of the past 15. Depth has really been a problem for the Generals during the past 2 years as they just can't find enough players to compete against the other top teams in the Atlantic South. They really didn't do much right last year, but they did win a close match against Mary Wash which had to be a big boost for the team. To put it simply, the talent is just not there right now and the blame clearly goes to the coaches for not recruiting. This team has two bright spots and those are their top 2 players. Junior Jeremy Becht is hot and cold, but should be a solid #2 player for a team in the 20-30 range. #1 singles player Hayden White won Atlantic South Rookie of the Year and I'd be surprised if he doesn't make his way back to the NCAA Singles Championships in 2011. He didn't have a great fall, but he should be the best player in the conference this year and one of the best sophomores in the country. After these two, W&L doesn't have much. The Generals will win the conference with ease in 2011 and have another season where they finish in the 24-30 range, but they should be doing so much more. They seem to be satisfied with mediocrity at the moment and that needs to change. They play most of the top teams in the Atlantic South, but two matches I'd pay close attention to are road contests against Mary Washington and Christopher Newport. These are two foes about even with the Generals and we will see how they fair. W&L needs to turn it around quickly, because a program with good tradition shouldn't be doing what they're doing.

2011 Team Preview #3: Carleton

Peter Dunn

Coach: Stephen Zweifel, 12th Season
Location: Northfield, Minnesota
Conference: MIAC
2008 Ranking: 29
2009 Ranking: NR
2010 Ranking: 29
2011 Projected: 30

Carleton enters this season in an unfamiliar position. They are the defending conference champions and the favorites to repeat. With Gustavus being weak in 2010 and Carleton having their best team in school history, there was talk that the Knights might be able to dethrone the Gusties. Not many people, including myself, thought it would actually happen. It did, and Carleton found themselves in the NCAA tournament. The Knights posted their first tournament win in school history before falling to Trinity (TX). What some people may not have noticed is that they took the Tigers top 2 doubles teams to tiebreakers. This is impressive given what the Tigers did in doubles over their next 2 matches. Carleton did what was asked last season, and the real question is if they can do it again. It has to be an embarrassment for Gustavus to not win the conference, so I'm sure they will be out for revenge this year. I'm picking the Knights to win the conference this year and make another trip to the tournament. They are a superior team to the Gusties and only lost 1 starter from last year's NCAA tournament roster. I would be surprised if Carleton doesn't end this year ranked. Coach Zweifel is coming off a well deserved Central Region Coach of the Year honor, quite an impressive feat for a part-time coach who is also a Biology professor at the school. For those of you that haven't done so, read some of the coach's humorous quotes in Carleton's post-match recaps. Carleton has one of the most underrated players in the Central Region in junior Peter Dunn as well as other promising young players. They play an easy schedule, and their only real tests besides Gustavus will be against Whitewater and DePauw. The DePauw match is one I will keep an eye on to see how much this team has improved. This program is going in the right direction and it could really help the program if they can establish MIAC dominance again in 2011.